DH IBS costing me a fortune!

[pancakes222]

Hi, hoping for any tips for how to bulk out food to keep costs down while dealing with gluten free and low fodmap.

We have two coeliacs in the house and my DH has IBS which is triggered by lentils, beans, broccoli, peppers, onions and garlic. I'm really struggling with my food bills because usually the advice to bulk out mince meals or other dishes is to include all the above which we can't eat!

Is anyone following a similar diet who can give any tips?

Thank you

As far as I'm aware parsnips, courgettes and carrots or even oats are low fodmap, so if you are wanting to bulk out mince dishes they could be grated or added in.
How about a chicken and courgette risotto, it really doesn't need to be laden with chicken, if you spread the meat it will go a lot further.
Fritata could work well. Just pick veg that works for dh.
Also, consider cheaper cuts of meat and cooking them low and slow.
Fishcakes are pretty economical, especially if you use canned or frozen fish.

I’m not sure what fodmap is so can’t offer much advice. Just wanted to lend a bit of sympathy. My DP has particular dietary needs that mean he has to avoid a lot of low-cost ingredients. In order to keep the food bill down I’ve become quite adept at cooking slightly different meals at once. I do one common element that we can all eat, then me and the children have it with ‘normal’ accompaniments, and DP has it with what he can have. It’s a bit of a pain, but cheaper than us all eating the higher-priced stuff unnecessarily.

For padding out meals, almost any veg will do if it’s grated or chopped small enough, so pick the things that he can have, chop them really small and stir into mince / sauce.

Potatoes, carrots, (frozen) spinach all low F, and GF, and can be used to bulk. So a traditional meat and 2 veg type diet, but cheaper, smaller cuts of meat if you need to cutback on money.

And rice. All the rice!

Rice!!

Vegetables do not need meat or sauce to hide them - set them free!! Eat them on their own!!

Eggs suitable and cheap too.

Asda have a good free from range thats cheaper than most places, including gluten free flour for about £1 a kg. I've been making lots of quick easy bakes like brownies, banana bread and pancakes with that. If you can afford to get a pot of xanthan gum a tiny bit of that really helps get the right texture. Not the healthiest but a lot cheaper than buying free from cakes and biscuits! Gluten free banana or apple pancakes are a good filling breakfast

I'm GF not low fodmap
I tend to cook some pretty basic probably boring food for myself.
Like tonight we had cheesy mash (your Dh can't have the cheese part) with pork chop and a veg. Nothing exciting, but safe to eat.
I'd stick to old fashioned meat and two veg and use cheaper cuts, things like cook a whole chicken and pull it apart to make many meals, or a big pack of pork chops and split it and freeze them in threes if there are three of you. Low fat mince in a bigger pack so less per kilo and split it and freeze in smaller amounts.
Slow cooker baked potatoes with some mince in gravy and a veg on the side. (I add very small chopped carrots to mince when I do a cottage pie.
Dinner doesn't have to be a gourmet delight it needs to be safe to eat for all of you.

I have IBS triggered by many of those foods.

I use the following enzyme so that I can eat foods with beans and pulses in:

ENZYMEDICA - BeanAssist (30 Capsules) | Food Intolerance Digestive Enzymes Supplements | Digestive Enzymes Blend for Beans and Legumes, Nutrient Supplements, Gut Health Supplement, Vegan, Dairy Free amzn.eu/d/hA04czR

I can eat pretty much normally using the above as needed.

It should be useful for any food containing galactooligosaccharides (GOS).

Here's some info on it:

www.monashfodmap.com/blog/digestive-enzymes-and-ibs/

healthygut.com/alpha-galactosidase-the-important-enzyme-for-digesting-vegatables-and-reducing-gas/

Hope that helps.

Agree with other poster about looking for cheaper cuts of meat. Organ meats are healthy but cheap if you can stomach them. If you use a whole chicken make sure you don't waste any parts! Bones can be boiled and the broth used for a stew (you might need to research best flours for thickening... maybe arrowroot flour?).

If you're happy with organ meats or other cheap cuts you should be able to get quite far with healthy casseroles including veggies and yams etc.

You sound like a great partner to him. :)

Could you cook an un-bulked meal, take DH's portion out, then add the lentils etc to the rest of it to stretch the rest of the meat further for those who can manage the veg?